What does "blimp" mean?
An airship constructed with a non-rigid lifting agent container.
Blimp
/ˈblɪmp/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An airship constructed with a non-rigid lifting agent container.
- Grammar: blimp is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: aerostat, airship, airship, ballonet.
- Useful contrasts: balloon, fit person, rigid airship.
- Usage evidence: Have you ever flown in a blimp?
How to use "blimp"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "blimp" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "blimp" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "blimp" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "blimp" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "blimp" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "aerostat" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "blimp", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An airship constructed with a non-rigid lifting agent container.
"2004 February 16&23, The New Yorker"
- 2 A person considered similar to Colonel Blimp in appearance, thought, or expression, particularly (historical or archaic, derogatory) a reactionary middle-class Englishman during the Interwar Period. humorous
"One was the military and imperialist middle class, generally nicknamed the Blimps, and the other the left-wing intelligentsia."
- 3 a small nonrigid airship used for observation or as a barrage balloon wordnet
- 4 Any large airborne inflatable. broadly
"a 6 meter high blimp made by a professional inflatables company, to be flown in the skies"
- 5 any elderly pompous reactionary ultranationalistic person (after the cartoon character created by Sir David Low) wordnet
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 An obese person. slang
- 7 A person similar to the cartoon character Colonel Blimp; a pompous, reactionary British man.
- 8 A soundproof cover for a video camera.
"You can create your own blimp or barney with anything that will deaden the camera noise, such as a changing bag, foam rubber, […]"
Verb
- 1 To expand like a blimp or balloon; to become fat. intransitive, slang
"After college, she started blimping and could no longer wear her favorite little black dress."
- 2 To fit (a video camera) with a soundproof cover. transitive
Antonyms
Example
"Have you ever flown in a blimp?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "blimp"?
Common synonyms include: aerostat, airship, airship, ballonet, balloon, barrage balloon.
How do you use "blimp" in a sentence?
Have you ever flown in a blimp?
How do you pronounce "blimp"?
Pronounced /ˈblɪmp/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Origin not entirely certain. However, most historians believe that it is onomatopoeia for the sound a blimp makes when thumped. Although there is some disagreement among historians, credit for coining the term is usually given to Lt. A. D. Cunningham of the British Royal Navy in 1915. There is an often repeated, but false, alternative explanation for the term. The erroneous story is that at some time in the early 20th century, the United States military had two classes for airships: Type A-rigid and Type B-limp, hence “blimp”. In fact, A. D. Topping reports on the “Etymology of ‘Blimp’”, in the AAHS Journal, Winter 1963, that: : “there was no American ‘A-class’ of airships as such—all military aircraft, heavier or lighter-than-air were designated with ‘A’ until the appearance of B-class airships in May 1917. There was an American B airship—but there seems to be no record of any official designation of non-rigids as ‘limp’. Further, according to the Oxford Dictionary, the first appearance of the word in print was in 1916, in England, a year before the first B-class airship.”
Etymology 2
From Colonel Blimp, a comic character created by David Low and first appearing in London's Evening Standard in April 1934.